Jeep WJ questions

[mustangwarrior]

hey guys, i asked awhile back about cherokees and grand cherokees, well at the time i was only working seasonally and decided to keep the two vehicles i already had

well i just got a new job in the career field that i'm going to school for, finally getting my career in the professional workplace off the ground and over the course of the next few months i'm going to be buying a new vehicle, while they have both served me well, i'm selling both my escort and my completely non-practical f150, and i'm serious this time

so i tend to change my mind about things every other day but i think i've finally landed on either a WJ or xterra but leaning more towards the WJ,

i like that its mid sized, gets better mileage than my truck and comes with a solid front axle, i'm looking at '03-'04s with 80-100k miles and the $7-8k range as there seems to be plenty available

so my question is, what should i look for/at when buying one? is they any common issues with them or problems that arise? i know the 4.0 I-6 is nearly bulletproof but what about the tranny? any help you guys can give me i appreciate

[Black_ZJ]

There has been a higher percentage of v8 WJ's with blown engines, so stick with the 4.0 for sure. The WJ's have better transmissions than the ZJ's came with so you should be fine as long as you get it serviced, as well as going through the entire vehicle to change all fluids and do a tune-up.

[K2ZJ]

01+ for sure. I would go V8, I had a 4 slow and wasn't happy. Check out MallCrawlin.com or Jeepforum.com. This is a vary common topic.

[Black_ZJ]

01+ for sure. I would go V8, I had a 4 slow and wasn't happy. Check out MallCrawlin.com or Jeepforum.com. This is a vary common topic.

How many v8 WJ's have you owned or worked on? Great power but very unreliable. Have you owned or even driven a WJ with the 4.0, much improved over the 4.0 in the ZJ, has better flowing intake manifold and exhaust header from the factory.

[K2ZJ]

How many v8 WJ's have you owned or worked on? Great power but very unreliable. Have you owned or even driven a WJ with the 4.0, much improved over the 4.0 in the ZJ, has better flowing intake manifold and exhaust header from the factory.

Owned none, worked on several. Drove dozens of 4.0 WJs, I sold Jeeps for a while starting in 01, so I have driven quite a few. The improved intake and exhaust were to make up for necking down the head to meet emissions and had only 10lb/ft more torque. Very unreliable is quite an overstatement.

[Booner]

How many v8 WJ's have you owned or worked on? Great power but very unreliable. Have you owned or even driven a WJ with the 4.0, much improved over the 4.0 in the ZJ, has better flowing intake manifold and exhaust header from the factory.

Our 4.7 WJ has 278K on it (99), and has been owned by almost everyone in our family at one time or another. It is on transmission number 2, but the 4.7 is going strong.

[olsen_karl]

Tons of info here:
http://wjjeeps.com/

I had a 2002 Laredo, 4.0, selec-trac. I've owned 4 other Jeeps with the 4.0L engine. IMHO, the WJ is too heavy for that motor -- it's slow. Also, with the 4.0L, you get a 4-speed 42RE transmission, which isn't particularly strong. The 4.7L V8 comes with a 545RFE transmission (5-speed), which is more durable.

IMHO, if buying a WJ, search for a 2001-2002 model (they began de-contenting in 2002; 2003-04 are worse) Laredo with V8 and selec-trac 4WD. The Quadra-drive system (automatic locking axles, different transfer case) provides great traction offroad, but seems prone to expensive failures. The Selec-trac transfer case is an older 2WD/AWD/4HI/4LO case, nothing fancy, but reliable. I like the Laredo trim because it has the simple climate controls; the higher trim line (Limited, etc.) with automatic climate control have frequent failures with the blend doors, which involves disassembling your dashboard to repair.

[mustangwarrior]

thanks guys, i'll have to look into the 01-02's, as far as them being slow, i'm not worried, i'm buying a jeep not a sports cars and thought i'd mention as far as going off road, it won't see anything hardcore, some dirt roads, camping, fishing, mud here and there, basic expedition stuff, i live in ohio so there will be no rock crawling here

been looking around, there is alot available in this area within the range i mentioned and a couple 1 owner vehicles i wanna check out

[mustangwarrior]

here's a few possibilities

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...19300781&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...19158084&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...20047301&Log=0

CarFax says this one is a one owner and is PA inspected which is a little more strict than ohio

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...17499673&Log=0

[reece146]

It's too bad the 5sp auto wasn't available with the 4.0. With revised gearing it would probably work nice with the 4.0.